Humanities 1 A (E)

Musical
Instruments

Loren F.
Allaga
BSED Filipino

Musical
Instrument
is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds.
- String Instruments
- Wind Instruments
- Brass Instruments
- Percussion Instruments
Instrumental families can also be categorized by the
designations soprano, alto, tenor and bass).

Musical
Instrument
The modern symphony orchestra usually consists of the
following
instruments
and
numbers:
String Section:
1st Violins 16 18 players
2nd Violins 14 16 players
Violas 10 12 players
Cellos 10 12 players
Double basses 8 10 players

Musical
Instrument
Woodwind Section:
Piccolo
2x Flutes
2x Bb Clarinets and Eb Bass Clarinet
English Horn
2x Oboes
2x Bassoons
Contrabassoon

Musical
Instrument
Brass Section:
3x Trumpets
4x F Horns
2x Tenor Trombones and Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba

Musical
Instrument
Percussion:
Timpani, Snare Drum, Bass Drum, Tenor Drum
Cymbals, Woodblock, Triangle, Tambourine, Chimes,
Tubular Bells, Glockenspiel, Xylophone, Vibraphone

Musical
Instrument
The modern symphony orchestra usually consists of the
following
instruments
and
numbers:
String Section:
1st Violins 16 18 players
2nd Violins 14 16 players
Violas 10 12 players
Cellos 10 12 players
Double basses 8 10 players

The String Family

The body of the instrument is hollow, thus becoming a
resonating box for the sound.
Strings are made of animal gut, nylon, or steel are wrapped
around pegs at one end of the instrument and attached to a
tailpiece at the other. They are stretched tightly across a
bridge to produce their assigned pitches.

The String Family

Can be played by using a bow (a wooden stick, strung with
horsehair thats pulled across the strings of instruments to
make them produce sound), plucking (the plucking technique
is called pizzicato),or strumming with fingers.

String
Instruments
The most common types of stringed instruments include:
the violin family (violin, viola, violoncello and double bass)
the harp
the guitar family (guitar, bass guitar, banjo, mandolin, ukulele)
Note: The piano is not a string instrument, since the player's hands
do not come in direct contact with the strings.

Violin

Violin
The soprano voice in the string
family.
Smallest string instrument in the
orchestra
It has four strings.
It can be played with a bow or
plucked (pizzicato) to create a
sound.

Viola

Viola
The alto voice in the string
family.
The viola is slightly larger than
the violin.
It is tuned five notes lower than
the violin.
It has 4 strings and can be
played with a bow or plucked
(pizzicato).

Violoncello

Violoncello/
Cello
The tenor voice in the string
family.
The cello is much larger than the
violin and viola.
It can produce beautiful sounds
from its lowest (bass clef) to its
highest note (up to four octaves).
It has 4 strings and can be played
with a bow or plucked (pizzicato).

Double bass

Double Bass
The bass voice in the string
family.
The largest and lowest
sounding string instrument.
It has 4 strings and can be
played with a bow or plucked
(pizzicato).

Double bass

Harp
It has about 45-47 strings stretched
across its tall triangular frame made of
wood.
The strings are plucked by hand
while seven pedals at the bottom of
the harp adjust the length of the
strings to make more notes.

The Guitar Family

There are many different types of guitars, that can be found in cultures all
around the world.

Classical guitar

Mandolin

Banjo

Electric Guitar

Acoustic
Guitar
Also called classical guitar.
It is used more frequent in modern
symphonies.
The hollowness, along with the sound
hole, is part of the design to produce
acoustics.
It is constructed from
gut, nylon or steel strings

wood

and

It has 6 strings and can be played by

strumming or plucking.

Electric Guitar
It is more solid and heavier than the
acoustic guitar
It has buttons, sliders, switches, or
knobs that assist in controlling
volume and sound manipulation.
It requires a sound amplifier to
project the sound effectively.
It produces sharp sounds and are
associated with rock music.

Mandolin
Related to the lute family.
It is a small stringed instrument
constructed of wood.
Its eight wire strings are tuned in pairs
to the same notes as those of a violin.
The distinctive tremolo sound of the
mandolin is created by quick
movements of the plectrum (pick)
across the four pairs, of strings.

Banjo
A stringed musical instrument of
African origin.
It has a tambourine-like body with
a hoop and a screw that secure
the vellum belly to the frame.
Widely used in folk music and jazz
ensembles
It has 4 to 5 metal strings.

Sitar
Related to the lute family.
It is about 1.2 metres (4 feet) in length.
It has a deep pear-shaped gourd body;
a long, wide, hollow wooden neck; both
front and side tuning pegs; and 20
arched movable frets.
Usually has five melody strings, one or
two drone strings and as many as 13
sympathetic strings beneath the frets in
the neck

The
Woodwind/Wind
Family
Vibrations begin when air is blown across the top hole of an
instrument, across a single reed, or across two reeds.
The keys or the holes in the instrument help the player
produce higher or lower sounds.
These instruments are made up of different families:
Flute and piccolo
Oboe and English horn
Clarinet and bass clarinet
Bassoon and contrabassoon

Reed is a piece of wood attached to its mouthpiece that adds character

to the sound.

Flute
The soprano in the wind family.
It has no reed.
It is a two-feet narrow tube made from

gold,

nickel,

platinum

or

silver

with a row of holes covered by keys

along one side.
Produce sound by blowing air through
the neck piece. The keys are pressed
down to produce different pitches on
the
instrument.

Harmonica
French harp or mouth organ.
It is free reed wind instrument.

Played by using the mouth (lips and

tongue)
Each hole is a chamber containing at
least one reed.

Piccolo
It is a smaller flute (variant of
flute).
It produces the highest notes in the
orchestra (an octave higher than
the flute).
Produces piercing and shrilling
tones.

Clarinet

Clarinet and Bass

clarinet

Made from wood,

The sound is produced by
blowing
air
through
its
mouthpiece where a thin piece
of reed that rests parallel to its
mouthpiece.
The keys are pressed down to
produce different pitches and
play many different notes very
quickly.

Contabass and Conta-alto clarinet

Oboe
The alto of the woodwind family.
Made from wood.
The sound is produced by
blowing air through a double
reed (straw-like) and by pressing
down the metal keys to produce
different pitches and play many
different notes very quickly.
Has three sections: top joint,
lower joint, and bell

English horn

English Horn
It is a large Oboe (wide and one
and a half times longer).
The sound is produced by blowing
air through a double reed (strawlike) and by pressing down the
three metal keys to produce
different pitches.

Bassoon and
Contrabassoon
Made from wood.
The bass of the woodwind family.
The sound is produced by blowing
air through a double reed (strawlike) and by pressing down the
metal keys to produce different
pitches.
The bassoon is often called the
clown of the orchestra, capable of
producing mellow tones.

 The contrabassoon
is twice as long as the
ordinary bassoon. It
provides the deepest
sounding notes in
the orchestra.

Contrabassoon

Saxophone
Although its body is made of
brass,
the
mouthpiece
contains a reed
only exhaling is necessary to
make it work.
It blends with wood wind and
brass.

Alto

Soprano

Tenor

Baritone

The Brass Family

Made of tubes of brass characterized by a long cylindrical or
conical metal tube commonly curved to two or more times and
ending in a flared bell
Can be altered by the use of various types of mutes which are
inserted into the large end of the instrument.
Modern brass instruments have a system of 3 valves that can
be depressed in various combinations to produce different
pitches or a slide by which the player may produce all the
tones within the instruments range.

Trumpet
The soprano of the brass family.
The sound of the trumpet is
produced
by
the
technique called buzzing (by
blowing ones air through the
mouthpiece).
A set of 3 valves are pushed
individually down to create pitch..

Ceramic Trumpet

Cornet
Very similar to the trumpet.
The bb cornet is the most
common and popular.
Makes a warmer softer sound
due to its conical bore.

Trombone
an Italian word which means large
trumpet
The alto, tenor and bass trombone
are the most common
Produce sound by buzzing
The only brass instrument that
changes pitch by moving its slide (of
its approximately 9 feet of tubing) up
and down through the instrument.
Uses a mute to make the sound
softer

French Horn
Made of a long tube of brass
between 12 and 16 feet long,
twisted into several circular coils,
expanding into a wide bell at the
end.
Has a range of approximately four
octaves
A set of 3 valves are pushed
individually down to create pitch.
Horn players traditionally put their
right hand in the bell to make a
softer, beautiful sound.

Tuba
About 16 feet of tubing large
with
a
funnel-shaped
instrument with a long neck
Has 3 to 5 valves. Fingering
the valves makes different
pitches.
Biggest and lowest sounding
member of the brass family
Has a mute that can be
placed in the bell to soften the
sound.

Euphonium
The
Baritone
Horn
or
Euphonium
has
longer,
narrower coils, and makes a
less abrupt sound.
It also has 3 individual valves
to create pitch.
The Baritone Horn's sound is
very similar to the Trombone.

The Percussion
Family
The largest family of instruments.
The sound and tone in these instruments is produced by
either rubbing one against the other, shaking,
scraping or striking them with a mallet or stick.
Percussion instruments can be tuned to a definite pitch
while other instruments are indefinite and do not change
pitch.

Definite Pitch
Instruments

*Cornet

Xylophone

A Greek name that means "wood

sound.
Change the quality of the pitch by
using different kinds of mallets
(hard or soft), and by hitting the
wooden bars in different ways.
Has resonators.

*Cornet

Marimba

A variant of xylophone
Marimba keys have tubular or
gourd resonators giving a
buzzing edge to the tone.
61/2 octaves in range.
Players may hold two sticks in
each hand to play up to four
notes at a time.

The Vibraphone, Xylophone, and Glockenspiel are very similar to

each other but are made out of different materials such as metal, wood
to create timbre. They are struck with mallets as well. Mallets can be
firm and soft tipped.

Chimes/Tubula
r Bells
Are metal tubes of different
lengths that are hung from a
metal frame.
They are struck with a rubber
or hard plastic hammer/mallet
causing vibration and thus
sound.
They sound like the ringing
bells of a church. Each chime
sounds a different pitch.

Piano
Lay it by hitting its 88 black and
white keys with your fingers.
Has the largest range of any
instrument in the orchestra.
Played by pressing down or
striking the keys to create pitch
and sound.
It is used for solo works,
percussive works, and blended
into the string family.

Celesta
Looks like a tiny upright piano
and sounds a lot like the
glockenspiel
Usually have a keyboard of
49-65 keys.

Timpani
Also called kettledrums.
Most orchestras have four
timpani of different sizes and
tuned to different pitches.
Pitches
are
changed
by
tightening or loosening the head
with a pedal
Usually played by one musician,
who hits the drumheads with felttipped mallets or wooden
sticks.

Indefinite Pitch
Instruments

*Cornet
Cymbals
Are round and made out of
brass and other types of
materials.
Can be played by hitting one
cymbal against the other, or by
using
sticks,
mallets
or
brushes to hit one or both
cymbals.
Cymbals can vibrate for a long
period of time once hit.

Gong
Also called tamtam,
It is a very large metal plate that
hangs suspended from a metal
pipe.
it is struck in the center with a feltor
leather-covered
beater,
producing a sound
Gongs may have shallow or deep
rims (kettle gongs) and may be
bossed (knobbed in the center) or
unbossed.

Tambourine
A small drum with metal jingles
set into the edges.
To play it, you hold it in one
hand and tap, shake or hit it,
usually against your other
hand.

Maracas
Are rattles.
Maracas can also be made of
wood or plastic; the sound
they make depends on what
they're made of.
To play them, you hold them in
your hands and shake.

Scraper
Consisting of a serrated
surface that is rasped with a
stick.
Sometimes resonated over a
hole or a gourd.

Triangle
A small metal bar that's bent
into the shape of a triangle and
makes a ringing sound when
you hit it.
The size and thickness of the
metal stick called beater can
change the sound the triangle
makes.

Snare Drum
A smallish drum made of
wood or brass
Has a set of wire-wrapped
strings stretched across the
bottom head (the snare),
which give the snare drum its
unique "rattling" sound when
the drum is hit.

Bass Drum
The biggest member of the
percussion.
Played
by hitting either
drumhead with sticks that
have large soft heads, often
covered with sheepskin or felt.
It produces a big and deep
sound and a lot of different
sounds from roaring thunder to
the softest whispers.

Some percussion instruments:

Cowbell

Wood block

Bells

Sandblocks

Glockenspiel

Castanets

Pitched Percussion (can play specific notes):

Timpani (various-sized kettle drums)
Piano and harpsichord (an internal object hits the strings)
Orchestra bells ("chimes"), Glockenspiel (a rack of metal bars), and
Handbells
Xylophone (an arranged series of various-sized metal bars)
Marimba (an arranged series of various-sized wooden bars)
Vibraphone ("vibes"an electric "xylophone" with windpipes)

Non-pitched Percussion (no distinct pitch is created):

Bass Drum
Snare Drum
Castanets
Cymbals
Triangle
Tambourine
Gong (a large, suspended "Chinese" cymbal)

Both Pitched and Non-pitched Percussion Instruments can be

classified by range, for example:
Triangle/Glockenspiel (soprano),
Snare Drum (alto),
Timpani (tenor),
Bass Drum (bass)

Musicians
The words for musicians who play individual instruments:
Cello - Cellist
Clarinet - Clarinetist
Drums - Drummer
Guitar - Guitarist
Keyboard - Keyboardist
Piano - Pianist
Saxophone - Saxophonist
Trombone - Trombonist
Trumpet - Trumpeter
Violin - Violinist

Related terms:
Conductor: The leader of the orchestra, band or choir.
The conductor stand in front of the group and directs them in the
performance.
The conductor's greatest responsibility is to determine the proper
interpretation of the music

Concertmaster: The principal violinist.(orchestra)

The principal clarinet( band)

Baton: A stick used by conductors to keep time and guide the

players or singers.

Thank you!

References:
Online:
www.Britannica.com
http://www.dsokids.com/2001/instrumentchart.htm
PDF:
Instruments of the Orchestra.pdf
appendix.pdf
Instrument families.pdf
Guide_To_The_Orchestra.pdf
Powerpoint Presentations:
Musical Instruments.ppt
Instrument Families Powerpoint.ppt
instrumentsoftheorchestra-150107070609-conversion-gate02.ppt